There’s a Shark in My House

Sorry, Hoover, Roomba and Dyson

I’m old enough to remember Hoover and Kirby vacuum cleaners that were the essence of simplicity. Heavy metal frames, a long, high-capacity black dust bag, and a noise level as loud as a two-engine DC-3 airplane flying over the living room. When the Hoovers in a neighborhood were being used at the same time, it sounded like low-flying fighter jets in formation.

Everyone had carpets in those days, and a daily vacuum would clean those carpets until they screamed for mercy. Cannisters, an alternative to upright models, were designed by unemployed Ford Falcon engineers. They were difficult to use, even for their intended purpose – cleaning carpeted stairs.

When I bought my own home, the first thing I did, even before I bought a Maytag washing machine – the one with the huge agitator in the middle of the machine – I bought my own Hoover from, you guessed it, a traveling Hoover salesman.

For many years, in many homes, I continued to buy Hoovers. But as Hoover replaced their original basic metal models with ones that were primarily made of plastic, with questionable suction, I found myself sticking the new ones in the trash after a year or two of use. Belts would break regularly, and they were diffiicult to replace. One time I discarded a Hoover on the street, but no one picked it up.

Over the years, I’ve had:

Roombas and their knockoffs: Expensive and gimmicky, sometimes useless, a robot would bump into every obstacle in the house. The dust bin was tiny, and the amount of stuff it vacuumed was disappointing.

Dyson: This is a very expensive ($500 range) vacuum that promises it would never lose its suction. True enough, but on hard floors it’s virtually useless. Emptying the waste bin is messy. On several occasions I had to vacuum up the spilled dirt.

And then I bought (drum roll, please) a Shark and my life changed in ways I couldn’t imagine. I got the AZ1002 model Amazon for about $400. The motor lifts off the base so I can vacuum in tight places. The handles and other parts go together with a reassuring click.  The build quality is excellent.  It’s noisy, but tolerable. And get this: the brush cleans itself. The suction is good, and it does very well on hardwood floors.  Emptying the bagless dirt cup is simple, and since the suction is so good, it picks up enough dirt so that I have to empty it every week.

I had one problem with the Shark — I had vacuumed a pile of shredded paper, which caused a clog — and the friendly, competent phone support staff stayed with me until the problem was (easily) solved. The fact that the support phone rang only twice before someone picked up is a testament to the Shark’s reliability.

Sorry, Mr. Hoover, but there is a Shark in my tank now.

Summary
The Shark out-performs even more expensive vacuums.

Tech Specs
Shark Apex Upright